Giant Royal Caribbean ship christened in China
In what is being billed as a first for China, one of the world's biggest cruise ships was christened Friday in the Chinese port of Tianjin.
Chinese actress Fan Bingbing presided over the naming event for Royal Caribbean's new Ovation of the Seas, which is the sixth largest cruise vessel ever built. Royal Caribbean is devoting the 4,180-passenger ship to the fast-growing China market.
Custom designed for the local Chinese market, Ovation will be based in Tianjin for much of the year. The port is 70 miles southeast of Beijing.
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Ovation is the third vessel in Royal Caribbean's Quantum series, which began rolling out in 2014. The first ship in the series, Quantum of the Seas, also is devoted to the China market. It sails year-round out of Shanghai. The second ship in the series, Anthem of the Seas, operates year-round out of the New York area to the Bahamas and Caribbean.
Cruise lines only recently have begun sending some of their newest, hottest ships to China to tap growing local demand for cruises. China accounted for about 1 million cruisers in 2015, up from 700,000 in 2014. The Chinese Ministry of Tourism is forecasting 4.5 million Chinese cruisers by 2020.
With the addition of Ovation, Royal Caribbean has four home ports in China: Tianjin, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Xiamen.
Ovation is joining four other Royal Caribbean vessels deployed at least part of the year in China: Quantum, Mariner of the Seas, Voyager of the Seas and Legend of the Seas. With the addition, Royal Caribbean will have the largest cruise fleet in the country.
Royal Caribbean vessels in China operate three- to 12-night sailings to Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam.
USA TODAY Cruise in 2015 was among a handful of U.S. media outlets to get early access to Ovation's one-year-old sister, Anthem of the Seas, ahead of its christening in Southampton, England. For our 'first look' tour of the ship, click through the carousel at the top of this story. Scroll through the carousels below for a tour of the Anthem's suites and videos from Quantum class vessels.
